Cafe de Hong Kong...

By lobster paints... (Visit website)

i think someone will definitely freak out like "oh gosh! this is almost a month ago!" and now, i'm seriously making sure i type out everything and complete this post before i forget or miss out anything! LOL....

11th Sep 2010: Cafe de Hong Kong

It was the 3rd Singapore Food Bloggers lunch outing and we landed in Cafe de Hong Kong! I was so excited over the lunch outing this time because obviously, there's so many more people joining in this time round as compared to the so-called informal 1st outing at Chef Daniel's and the 2nd burger hunting session at Burger Bench & Bar and The Handburger.

the cosy and humble looking interiors of the place...

enjoying my cup of iced milk tea and a lot chit-chatting while waiting for everyone to arrive...

and you know time flies when you're really enjoying and soaking up in nice conversations...

before we all knew it, the 1st dish had been served! :D

????? Fortune Seafood Roll - $7/ 2pcs

so crispy and fragrant, this seafood roll was in fact perfect as a starter together with the mayonnaise with a tinge of lemon. Take a bite and you find your teeth 1st breaking the crispy outer layer of the seafood roll and then sinking into the crunchy prawns inside!

i think i have a secret obsession with crunchy prawns...hehe!

guess what caused the spur? haha!

the star of the lunch had been served!...

????? Stewed Crocodile Paw - $50

taken out onto a side dish so we all can have a better look at the croc paw...

then back into the claypot to let it soak up some gravy while we serve...

Ok, I shall admit that despite being a close to a 100% dare devil, i chickened out since the beginning after realising we're going have croc meat on the menu...And actually according to my parents, it's believed that eating croc meat will actually make you unlucky in your life for the Chinese believe crocodiles are a kind of sacred creature.

So initially, i was just having the roasted pork, vege and the mushrooms that were stewed together in the same claypot and i must say that it tasted quite good with a little herbal taste to it. And until my "neighbours" at the table planned to force feed me, i end up tasting the croc meat in the end. BUT just a bite, a tiny bite! And i guess everyone's going in their minds now like "SO how is it? how is it?!" haha...

The croc meat had been stewed till it's so perfectly soft and the texture is a little between stewed duck or chicken. In fact, it tasted like duck or chicken, nothing close to a weird foreign taste even though it's croc meat? haha...interesting but no, it's too much of a Fear Factor to me...i'm not eating this again! =X

????? Stir-fried Red Groupa Slice with Roasted Sauce - $22

i guess the best way to relate a familiar taste to this dish would be comparing with the hot-plate deer meat at any zichar (??) dinner you might have before. But imagine the deer meat replaced with fresh, thick slices of the red grouper fish together with the same burnt taste from a hot plate and additional fried shallots for extra taste. Oh my...just typing all that is making myself drool... =X

????? Braised Long Beans - $10

This dish reminds me very much of the stir-fried long beans i had at ????? just that there's maybe so much lesser salted fish and the long beans are braised before stir-frying them with the minced meat mix.

???? Braised Duck with Sea Cucumber - $78

the broccoli soft-boiled till it's not mashy but crunchy and not too hard to bite on. then the mushroom was thick and juicy soaking up the gravy and the sea cucumber (i love sea cucumbers hehe...) still had it's chewy texture but not hard and unbreakable with the teeth. And what more, the duck meat was so nicely braised that the meat tears off with a little tug! Yes, if you are wondering, the croc meat had an almost similar texture to this braised duck. :)

and i noticed the carrots being intricately cut and shaped like butterflies... :)

????? Salted Egg Golden Prawns - $20

look at the thick coat of the salted egg and pumpkin paste all over the prawns! :D

if you have ever tasted the salted egg crabs, you'll probably know how nice the prawns will taste being prepared like this! Some of us even devoured the shells together so as to not miss and leave behind any bit of the creamy and fragrant salted egg and pumpkin paste coat...hehe!

??????? Stir-fried You Mak Cai with Dace Fish - $10

I really preferred the braised long beans as compared to this dish and to be frank, this dish didn't leave much impressions on me... =X

????? Nan Yu Roasted Crispy Chicken - $17

When the boss of the place, Francis, shared with us how much procedures they had to go through just to make sure the skin will be crispy after roasting, we were seriously very impressed. Indeed the skin of the roasted chicken is very crispy and the meat is still tender even though the chicken had been roasted... :)

something else that created an uproar across the table? hehe...

????? Stewed Lamb Brisket - $20

a closer look at the stewed lamb...

I guess everyone knows that mutton has got a distinctive smell no matter how it's cooked. But surprisingly, the spices used in this stew actually managed to suppress the smell of mutton and it's pretty delightful to eat this dish. Nonetheless, if you are still a little skeptical and not willing to deal with the distinctive smell of mutton, you can request for some thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves. Trust me, the lime leaves will not only cover the smell of the mutton but it also gives a whole new taste to the dish. But remember, just a teeny weeny bit per bite will seriously do the magic... :)

Not forgetting that it's served piping hot and the broth of the stew thick but not too overwhelming, i believe it'll be a great dish for cold or rainy weathers!

And guess what? The mutton had been stewed till it's so soft that it's easily mashed up with a gentle chew!

I think i have mentioned and emphasized on "easily mashed up" so many times in this post that i wonder if you're thinking if i'm actually wearing dentures! haha... =P

???? Fragrant Fish Roe Fried Rice - $10

we had a Mount-Everest-tall worth of fried rice! :D

can you spot the little fish roe mingling between the rice? :)

Every mouthful was actually a fun experience! the fish roe pops in your mouth when you bite like how the bubble wrap will pop when you press on every bubble. It really reminded me of the salmon roe pasta i had at Oriole Cafe before just that the smaller fish roes doesn't pop with a burst of saltish taste like the salmon roe! :)

????? French Toast - $5.00
inclusive of 1 cup of hot coffee or tea...
or you can choose to add an addition $0.30 to have a cold coffee or tea...

peanut butter filling in the toast! YUMMY!

Trust me! this is not a joke but there's really butter butter filling in the toast! IF you are going to ask me...i'll probably tell you that i'm not going to eat french toast in any other HK cafes anymore! I want only CDHK's French Toast now!!! =P

and unknowingly, our stomachs had been all filled up nicely and it was the end of the lunch...

it was then i finally had a good look around and noticed the interesting looking paintings displayed in the cafe...

Then i found out from the boss of the place that all those are actually his son's artwork! VERY interesting... :) And in fact, quite a few customers have shown interest in the artworks and offered to buy them but his son refused to let go his own master pieces irregardless of the price offered. A passion for drawing that you might not be able to find in other kids i guess...super awesome!

personally, i liked this one very much. :)

Anyway, after all my babbling, if you have read all the way to this point, i bet you'll definitely be interested to read and see the more professional pictures at the other foodies' posts like Misstamchiak, CuisineParadise, Camemberu and CalvinTimo. Or keep a look out for the posts by The Hungry Cow and The Hungry Photographer... :)

????? Cafe de Hong Kong

586 Balestier Road #01-01

Singapore 329898

Tel: 62553865

Opening Hours:

Tuesdays to Sundays

11.30 am to 3.00 pm
5.00 pm to 12.00 MN

Website: http://www.cafedehongkong.com/index.html

What a pity that the weekends it ending in about 1.5 hours! It's such a dread isn't it?
But whatever it is, it's 10th Oct 2010 today. 10/10/10 and what have you done today to make it memorable?

Hope everyone had a great weekend nonetheless!
And have a great week ahead! It'll be good! ;)

I'm out of here!

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